Which to use
“férias” and “ferrão” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,572
- “férias” frequency rank
- #31,372
- “ferrão” frequency rank
- 32944
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | férias | ferrão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | período de folga a que têm direito trabalhadores e estudantes | órgão retrátil dos insetos |
Where the eye mixes férias and ferrão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses férias with ferrão
A purely visual mix-up. férias (/ˈfɛ.ɾjaʃ/) and ferrão (/fɨ.ˈRɐ̃w̃/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32944, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
férias is recorded at frequency rank #1,572, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɛ.ɾjaʃ/. ferrão is at rank #31,372, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fɨ.ˈRɐ̃w̃/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 32944, this pair ranks #34,704 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of férias vs ferrão
Shared letters: fr. Private to "férias": aisé. Private to "ferrão": eoã.
"férias" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "ferrão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "férias" and "ferrão" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "férias" or "ferrão" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "férias" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ferrão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #34,704 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "férias" and "ferrão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ferrão vs fierro". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #34,704 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.